Black Cat
by Yami Roojii
Summary: When Joey has an unfortunate encounter with Bakura and Marik, he's left confused and practically helpless. To his great surprise, he's rescued by the last person he would have thought of. Extremely mild SetoxJoey. Rated for a few bad words.


DX Why do I always leave it right until the last minute? T.T Anyways, this is my entry for the puppyshipping round of Computerfreak101's YuGiOh contest. Hope it's not too bad, I haven't written anything for YuGiOh since the end of the last contest.

* * *

How did I get here? Last thing I remember, I was walking home from school, trying to decide what to have for dinner. Serenity's coming round and I want to cook something nice for her. Lasagne maybe? I dunno. Doesn't look like it matters now anyways. I was barely halfway back when I ended up in this sack. I heard the car coming up behind me but I didn't think anything of it, since, y'know, it was a road and all, cars are a pretty frequent sight, but then someone leaned out and grabbed me. Before I could react, I was shoved in this goddamn sack by god knows who. I'm still in the sack, but I'm pretty sure I'm not in that car anymore. It feels like I'm on the ground. I don't remember the journey at all, but I don't remember getting hit or anything. I'm so confused. Have I been kidnapped? Or is this a practical joke? If this is Tristan, I'm going to kill him. Serenity'll be at my place by now, surely, and she'll worry when I don't turn up. I hate making Serenity worry, she's done enough of that by now to last her a lifetime.

Wait...what's that noise? I think someone's here...

--

He stopped wriggling around and strained his ears, listening for what he was now sure were the movements of someone else in the room with him. At least, he assumed it was a room, it didn't feel cold enough to be outside.

There it was again. The quiet shuffling of someone trying to be stealthy. If he didn't hold still, he could barely hea-"WHO LEFT ALL THESE BLOODY BOXES IN HERE? I hate having to move the blasted things out of my way where ever I go!"

"It's a warehouse, it's used specifically for storing boxes and crates, don't be a moron."

"But why can't we just throw them out? Or burn them? I want to burn them!"

"We've been over this! If we do that, then the owner will know we've been here and we'll most likely be arrested again! I know it's annoying, but we need to be a little more careful about revealing the locations of out bases, since we don't actually have permission to be on any of those locations. I will not go back to prison again!"

"...GYAH!!"

Joey squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. Fortunately, the sound of a crate being kicked against the wall masked it. He knew those voices. He knew them very well. The first, and no doubt the one who'd just smashed one of the crates to pieces, was Bakura, the evil spirit who had once made his friend Ryou's life a living hell. And still did, just to a lesser degree now that Ryou could physically run away from him. The second was Marik, the equally evil physical manifestation of Malik Ishtars anger and evil desires. Alone, each was a nightmare to deal with. Together, they could reduce entire cities to states of complete chaos. The only person who could keep them in check was Yami, the revived Egyptian pharaoh, and even he couldn't keep them from causing no trouble at all.

And now Joey was alone with them.

He couldn't think why they would want to kidnap him, unless this was some half assed attempt to annoy Yami, which sometimes seemed to be their only goal in life. He tried not to think about what they might be planning.

He'd just managed to calm down a little when the bag was suddenly hoisted off the ground and tipped upside down. Before he knew what had hit him, he found himself tumbling ungracefully to the floor, staring up at the grinning faces of two people who should, by rights, have been locked away years ago.

"What do you want?" He asked coldly, forcing his stiff and aching limbs into action and pushing himself up off the floor.

"With you or in general?" Bakura asked, standing on one leg as he attempted to pull crate fragments out of his boot.

"With me you idiot!"

"Now now, less of that please. We have no plans to harm you, but that could change easily enough" Marik warned, crumpling the sack into a ball and throwing it over into a corner.

Joey clenched his jaw shut and backed away from them. He didn't believe a word either of them spoke. He needed to get away quickly, before they decided to do something nasty and probably quite strange. The motives of psychos were a complete mystery to him.

"Alright, if you really must know, _we _don't know. We just saw you while we were on our way to...well, that's not important. The point is, we saw you and thought it might be fun to kidnap you." Bakura grinned unnervingly then widened his eyes in surprise as he toppled over onto the floor. In his desire to creep Joey out, he'd forgotten that he was standing on one leg and therefore needed to focus on balancing at least a little bit.

Raising his voice over Bakura's torrent of curses, Marik took a few steps towards Joey. "So, Wheeler, what do you think we should do? Do you have any fun ideas?" Joey's only reaction to Marik's question was a slight tightening of his lips.

"Oh! Oh! I know! I know what we can do with him!" Bakura cried, limping over to join Marik in front of their captive. He leaned closer and whispered something in his friends' ear. A grin started to spread across Marik's face as he listened.

"Yes, that sounds like fun. I've always wanted to do that." He said approvingly. Bakura clapped once in excitement then ran off into another room.

"What are you going to do?" Joey demanded.

"You'll see" Marik chuckled.

--

I don't like this. I don't like this at all. I mean, they creep me out pretty much all the time, but right now I'm actually a little scared. I don't think I can get away. Rushing Marik isn't going to do me much good, the guy's freakishly strong. I swear to god, he could tear a phone book in half if he had the right incentive. And anyway, even if I could get past Steroid Man, Bakura's lurking somewhere out there. I definitely don't want to be caught alone with that crazy, stab happy bastard...

So, yeah, I suppose I'm just gonna have to wait and see if any opportunities present themselves.

--

His thoughts were interrupted very suddenly by a cracking boom that shook the floor beneath him. The world spun wildly around him and his nostrils were filled with the stench of burning socks. He tried to speak, tried to demand an explanation, but nothing came out.

"A little bit of warning would have been nice you know!" He heard Marik yell, followed by the mad cackling of Bakura, who had clearly returned with whatever he went to collect.

He felt fear course through his veins as breathing became difficult and his vision clouded. What was happening? What had Bakura done? His last thoughts before darkness swept over him were of Serenity and how she would feel if he never came home...

"...not right at all you idiot!"

"Oh bugger off! I'd like to see you do better!"

Blinking his eyes open, Joey peered over at Marik and Bakura. They were standing over the other side of the room, yelling in each others faces, and they were huge! They now towered over him. No wonder Marik was annoyed! After a moment, he realised that they were both completely engrossed in their argument, neither would notice if he slipped past them. Pulling himself to his feet, he crept around behind Bakura and headed for the door. He didn't breathe until he was outside in the cool winter evening and he didn't stop running until the warehouse was well out of sight. It was only when he stopped to catch his breath that he realised something was wrong. The entire street looked...wrong. Frowning, he looked around. The frown slipped off his face to be replaced by a wide eyed look of terror as it dawned on him what the problem was. Everything was ten times bigger than it had been before. It wasn't Marik and Bakura that had grown; it was him that had shrunk! He let out an anguished yell, only to fall back in shock and disbelief. The sound that had left his mouth was definitely not human. It almost sounded like...Running over to a nearby puddle, he squeezed his eyes shut then took a deep breath and opened them again, leaning over the side to peer down into the cold, murky water. He let out a strangled yelp as he caught sight of his reflection. The face that stared back at him was no longer his own, it wasn't even human. It was the small, delicate face of a black kitten.

He wandered for hours with no idea what to do or where to go. How could he go home like this? He couldn't speak, he'd tried as hard as he could, but he could only yowl like the cat he now was. Serenity would have no idea who he was. He didn't want to go back just to watch her fret and worry over his absence, unaware that he was already home and sitting beside her. He couldn't go to any of his friends for the same reason, and he sure as hell wasn't going back to Bakura and Marik. No, there was nothing he could do. Miserable and dejected, he found an empty doorway and crawled into it to shelter from the rain that had begun to fall. As if things weren't bad enough already, now he was soaked too. Shivering, he stared up into the cloud filled sky. Surely things couldn't get any worse? He was just thinking to himself that he probably shouldn't have thought that when his view was momentarily obstructed by a figure hurrying past the doorway, an umbrella shielding it from the worst of the rain. The figure vanished from his line of sight, only to reappear seconds later and stand directly in front of him. Looking up, Joey felt his heart sink. Perfect. Staring down at him with cold, blue eyes was probably his least favourite person on the planet, Seto Kaiba. He couldn't remember ever meeting anyone who got on his nerves like Kaiba did. The guy was arrogant, selfish and just plain irritating. He was just weighing up the pros and cons of scratching Kaiba's legs to ribbons then running like the wind when the young CEO bent down and plucked him off the wet ground. Taken completely by surprise, Joey barely moved as he was settled between Kaiba's arm and his chest. The only thing that kept him from scratching his way to freedom was the fact that, despite his frosty attitude, Kaiba was actually pretty warm. It felt quite cosy after all those hours wandering around in the cold. So he stayed where he was, and, though he didn't realise it, he even started to purr as his small body gratefully absorbed the heat.

He found himself waking up again and shook his head groggily. When had he fallen asleep? All he could remember was being warm and comfortable...oh, yes, that was it. Kaiba. Fully alert now, he swept his gaze over the room he was now in. It was a large room with a lit fireplace dominating the nearest wall. Joey had been placed on a thick, soft rug that filled the space between the fireplace and the large, squishy looking couch opposite it. Above the fireplace was a huge, gold framed painting of the blue eyes white dragon. Yes, this was definitely Kaiba's house. He was just getting up with the intention of exploring the room further when he heard the door open. Spinning around, he found himself staring at the youngest Kaiba. Mokuba's already reasonably wide eyes were even wider still as he stared down at the little bundle of fur before him.

"Oh Seto, he's so cute!"

Seto followed his younger brother into the room and stared down at Joey without a hint of emotion on his face. "Yes, I suppose he is."

"He's adorable! And he was just sitting out there in the rain? With no collar or anything? I can't believe no one would want such a cute little guy!" Practically cooing, he descended on Joey and swept him up into his arms. Joey didn't protest, even though he found the entire situation utterly humiliating. Mokuba was a nice kid; he didn't deserve to be clawed.

"He probably escaped from someone's house or something. I'll make some calls in the morning and see if anyone's reported him missing." His expression remained impassive, but the icy look in his eyes thawed a little as he watched his brother fuss the kitten with obvious joy.

"But if no one claims him, can we keep him? Can we, please?" Mokuba turned his bright, childish eyes on Seto and hugged Joey close.

The corner of Seto's mouth twitched. "We'll see, ok?"

Mokuba made a happy chirping noise then carried Joey over to the couch. Sitting down, he settled his new friend on his lap.

"Mokuba, don't you have a report due in tomorrow?" Seto asked, wandering over to stand beside the couch.

"Awww, but Seto, I wan-"

"No Mokuba, the kitten will still be here after you finish your homework. And don't look at me like that; it's not going to work."

Mokuba turned the pleading look on his face into a pout then sighed. Mumbling submissively, he gently moved Joey onto the cushion next to him and shuffled out of the room.

Sitting on the cushion, Joey eyed Seto nervously. Mokuba was the only person that could manipulate Seto, and Joey had no doubt there would be much manipulating over this, which meant he was facing the prospect of living with the Kaiba's from now on. That most certainly did not appeal to him. He edged a little closer to the arm of the sofa as Seto settled himself down the other end. He considered running for it, but he just didn't have the energy. He was still tired from all that wandering and fear and the cushion was so soft.

Seto sat in silence, staring into the fire for a long time, then he turned his head to look at Joey. "Mokuba's right, you really are quite cute."

Stretching out his arm, he reached down to scratch Joey behind the ears. Reflexively, Joey flinched away from his hand and glared at him as much as a kitten can glare. Seto pulled his hand back and sighed. "I get that a lot. I guess I'm just not a likable person. I can understand it really, I mean, I can't really say I've made an effort to be nice to people. Quite the opposite in fact. I drive people away before they've even started to come close." Pulling his feet up onto the edge of the sofa, he wrapped his arms around his legs and rested his chin on his knees. Joey blinked a few times at the very un-Kaiba like pose. Staring into the fire again, Seto continued talking. "It's not...It's not that I don't _want_ friends and a life outside the company, it's just that, well..." He bit his lip as he considered his next words. Joey got the feeling that he wasn't really talking to him anymore, and that he perhaps spoke to himself quite often. It made sense really; who else would he have to talk to besides Mokuba? "I suppose...I'm scared. What if I let someone in and they get close and then they leave? Or what if they decide they don't like me? I'm not that interesting and I'm certainly not very funny. I just don't think I could handle the pain of losing someone I'd grown fond of. It's better to have no one, that way I can't lose anyone." He nodded as though he'd just convinced himself then let his eyes slide back to Joey. "Do you have anyone? Is someone looking for you right now?"

Even if he could speak, Joey wouldn't have been able to think of anything to say. He never in a million years would have thought Kaiba was this insecure and, well, lonely. He was surprised to find that the thought saddened him. Despite everything Kaiba had said and done over the years, he found he couldn't take pleasure in his obvious unhappiness.

_Is someone looking for you right now?_

An image of Serenity flashed through his mind and he felt his heart plummet again. She would be looking for him. No doubt she had called their friends and they were wondering where he'd gone too. How was he going to get out of this mess?

Seeing the kittens ears fold back and its head droop miserably, Seto reached out once again and hesitantly scratched the back of its head. Surprised, Joey's head shot back up and his eyes opened wide. Seto snatched his hand back and mumbled an apology, even though, as far as he knew, Joey couldn't understand a word he was saying. Seeing the miserable look on Seto's face, Joey felt guilty for reacting the way he had. It's not like Seto was trying to hurt him or anything. Mentally sighing, Joey stood up and trotted over to Seto. Laying down right next to him, he pressed himself up against his leg like cats always seemed to. Seto stared down at him in confusion for a moment then shrugged and started scratching his back. It didn't take long for Joey to start purring.

Later that night, as Joey wandered around Kaiba's massive house, he thought about everything that had happened to him today. First he was kidnapped, then he was turned into a cat by a pair of lunatics with way too much free time, and then, as if that wasn't enough, he was taken in by his biggest rival and long time nemesis, only to find that the guy was quite possibly incredibly sensitive and insecure. It was all very confusing. He was just considering looking for some food when he heard a shuffling noise behind him. Too late, he tried to run for cover underneath a cabinet. He only made it halfway before he found himself once again trapped inside a smelly sack.

"See, I told you I could find him!" A voice whispered from somewhere up above.

"Oh yes, very good, it only took you all freaking day!" Another voice whispered back angrily.

The voices continued to bicker as Joey felt himself being carried away. He was too confused, weary and hungry to even be scared this time. The moment they let him out of the sack, he'd go straight for their eyes and blind at least one of them before they killed him.

After a fairly short time, the sack was dumped onto the ground and the voices faded a little as though the speakers had moved away from him.

"Now, you're sure you can do this right?"

"Yes, yes, stop being such a worry wart."

"Bakura, your last attempt went completely wrong!"

"Pfft. I wouldn't say completely."

"He was supposed to be a dog, not a kitten!"

"He's an animal with four legs and a tail, that's close enough."

"...You're an idiot. Now change him back before Yami finds out and skins us alive!"

He heard Bakura mumble something rude at Marik then felt the world start to spin again. The foul smell filled his nostrils once more and he started to gag. He tried not to imagine what he was going to wake up as as the world rushed away from him.

Bolting upright, he looked around wildly, only to find that he was in his own bed, safe in his bedroom. And it was the right size. Leaping out of bed, he ran over to his mirror and nearly cried in joy when he saw his own face looking back at him. Hugging himself happily, he went back over to his bed and sat on the edge. So...had it all been a dream? He was more confused than ever. The only thing he was sure of was that he was going to make sure Yami did some very bad things to Marik and Bakura.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash as his door was flung open. Standing in the doorway, Serenity let out a happy cry and flung herself at him. "It _is_ you! I thought I heard you thumping around up here. Where have you been? You never came home last night and I was worried. No one could find you!"

Well, that killed the dream theory.

"It's, uh, kinda hard to explain...how about I tell you later and we go out for breakfast for now? I'll buy and you get to pick where we go, yeah?"

She frowned, then smiled. "Ok, but it better be a good reason. I had to eat that horrible instant stuff you had in your cupboards last night."

He winced and grinned apologetically. Laughing, she went back downstairs to wait for him to get dressed.

A week passed before he could bring himself to confront Kaiba. He'd needed the time to sort out his thoughts and, surprisingly, his feelings. After hearing what he'd heard and seeing Seto looking so alone, he found he couldn't bring himself to hate him anymore. Instead, he wanted to help him. No one should be alone. He felt certain now that he could take Kaiba's insults and taunting and not let it get to him. He knew it was just a defence mechanism. Reaching the end of Kaiba's overly long drive, he walked up the front steps and rung the bell. As he waited, he thought about telling Kaiba what had happened. It probably wasn't a good idea, not yet anyway. He probably wouldn't believe him and if he did, he'd been embarrassed. No, that wasn't a good start. This was going to be hard enough as it was, there was no need to make it any harder. But Joey was determined now. He would persist until Kaiba realised that there was no need for him to be scared and alone. Until he realised that Joey really, truly wanted to be close to him.

He smiled warmly as the door opened.


End file.
